Unmanned systems (e.g., unmanned aerial or aircraft systems, unmanned ground systems, unmanned underwater systems) provide a low-cost and low-risk alternative to a variety of reconnaissance-type tasks performed by manned systems. Unmanned aircraft systems, for example, are used by TV news stations, by the film/television industry, the oil industry, for maritime traffic monitoring, border/shore patrol, civil disaster surveillance, drug enforcement activities, monitoring fleets of fish (e.g., tuna), etc. Law enforcement agencies use manned helicopters and airplanes as an integral part of their operations, but unmanned aircraft systems are starting to be used in a growing number of places. The uses for aviation equipment in law enforcement that can be filled by unmanned aerial systems include, for example:                Photographic uses,        Surveillance uses,        Routine patrol/support,        Fugitive searches,        Search and Rescue,        Pilot Training,        Drug Location/Interdiction,        SWAT operations, and        Firefighting/Support.        
Table 1 provides statistics related to the use of aviation units by large law enforcement agencies with one hundred or more full time officers in the United States.
TABLE 1Aviation Law Enforcement StatisticsNumber of aviation units, US 2010Rotary - median $/flt.hr.$168$45 (Fuel)(Maintenance)Fixed - median $/flt.hr. $54$74 (Fuel)(Maintenance)Unmanned$1.79/hour
Unmanned systems can include a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to obtain adequate near real time position data to know where the system is, and calculate attitude with feedback information from solid-state rate gyros. Unmanned aerial systems capable of, for example, automated take-off/launch, flight via programmed way-points, and snag-type recovery have been developed that reduce the cost to own and operate when compared to human-operated aircraft (e.g., single-pilot fixed and rotor aircraft). Unmanned vehicles that are covered by the United States Munitions List (USML) are subject to export controls administered by the U.S. Department of State under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) defined at 22 C.F.R. §§120-130. For example, the Missile Technology Control Regime (“MTCR”) (See 22 C.F.R. §121.16) defines two categories of unmanned air vehicles subject to State Department Control, each category subject to different export controls. “MTCR Category I” vehicles are those vehicles that 1) are capable of at least 300 km of autonomous flight and navigation and 2) can carry a payload of at least 500 kg. “MTCR Category II” vehicles are those vehicles that either 1) are capable of at least 300 km of autonomous flight and navigation or 2) can carry a payload of at least 500 kg. (See 22 C.F.R. §121.16 (2011).) Commodities subject to export controls administered by other agencies (e.g., the U.S. Department of Commerce), such as unmanned air vehicles that are incapable of autonomous flight and navigation for 300 km or more and cannot carry a payload of 500 kg or more, are subject to less stringent export requirements.